Star Trek: Discovery teaser shows off new aliens, trendy uniforms, and a captain’s chair waiting to be filled

Star Trek: Discovery had been flying under the radar recently. Apart from a few bits and pieces of casting news (including The Walking Dead star Sonequa Martin-Green taking up a lead role) there’s been very little but bam hype levels have hit warp factor 9 with a teaser video that offers up glimpses at the crew’s uniform, the ship they’ll be flying, and an empty captain’s chair…

The coolest thing about the trailer (which you can see above) is the care that’s gone into making Discovery a continuation of the key Star Trek mantra of love and compassion for all. The trailer begins with a montage starting from the original series and charting a course through The Next Generation, Deep Space 9 and so on.

The real meat, though, comes in the latter half of the teaser. There’s a behind-the-scenes shot of a set that looks suspiciously like the bridge section of the ship, a wireframe look at the design of the new ship, plus a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of the naval-style crew uniforms.

The uniforms are classic Star Trek fare: military-inspired but fashionable because, remember, no one can hear you scream in space but they can see you rock some killer threads. This is set 10 years before the original show, so while that badge looks chunky it won't be a Next Generation communicator. No word yet on whether there's been any changes to what the colours mean here, or if that piping indicates any rank.

No sign of the redshirts though. That’s probably for the best.

Star Trek is known for its wide array of ships but the one in the teaser is not the already-revealed USS Discovery. It’s looking like it could be the Shenzhou, which Michelle Yeoh is rumoured to captain.

And Star Trek would be nothing without its aliens, so that scary, scaly alien dude looks ready to give the crew of the Discovery a hairy situation or two in the future, I’m sure. Plus, check out the human 'side' to an alien below, with an actor wearing an organic-looking helmet that'll probably be beefed up in post-production.

It’s all looking like a smart reinvention of Star Trek: it’s not reinventing the wheel but it’ll offer just enough in the way of changes to make it feel as fresh as the original did way back in 1966.

And what’s up with that empty captain’s chair? We don’t know (yet) who will be planting their caboose in the comfy confines of the iconic piece of furniture – but Star Trek: Discovery looks to be moving away from the captain being the focus of the show with Sonequa Martin-Green being the lead but, crucially, not a captain.

Starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Anthony Rapp, Michelle Yeoh and James Frain, Star Trek: Discovery is due to air on CBS sometime in 2017.